Not So Young
by Scarlet Hondae
Summary: Batman meets someone with strong ties to the superhero community, someone he'd never thought he'd meet.


Author's Note : Just a short little one shot. I was watching Batman Beyond and this popped into my head. Also, nothing has been edited. If anyone wants to, whatever. If they don't, then...whatever.

* * *

She sighed and swirled the water with her feet, watching the ripples spread. Despite the fact that it was one in the morning, she could still see where the ripples met the opposite side of the pool. The limited light from the street lamps were enough to let her see that much. There wasn't enough light, though, to see the guy behind her.

"You shouldn't be out here this late," he informed her as he crouched down beside her, staring down into the water. "It isn't safe."

She didn't even jump. She'd been through too much to startle at something so small as Batman sneaking up on her. "It is safer for me than it is for you, Batman."

"And what makes you say that?" Terry McGinnis inquired of the pale teenager. He was rocking back on his heels, cautious, but still not experienced enough to know he was close to something dangerous. He was still a rookie, after all.

"What - you don't believe a petite teenage girl can protect herself as well as the new-age Batman?" the girl retorted in a flat voice, her lips shaping in an invisible smirk. Well, invisible to most (and to Terry). Anyone close to her - friend wise - would have seen it.

"Surprisingly enough, I believe you could." Terry told her after a second, making her pause. Maybe he wasn't so green. Maybe he wasn't so inexperienced. That, or Batman had trained him well.

"You are much smarter than I had given you credit for, young hero." She told him, finally dragging her eyes from the water to the teenage boy at her side.

Black blended with the night, but the red popped. When she had first seen the suit, she had told them that the red ruined the stealth, the blending with the night. Then she'd seen the cloaking device in action and changed her mind. No, the red was good right where it was.

"I'm really not that young; in fact, you look to be younger than I am," Terry pointed out, and the girl laughed.

"If you still can look at someone and judge them by their looks..." The girl shook her head, "I actually envy you that ability."

"So I can safely assume you aren't really as young as you appear?" There was a ring of mocking amusement in Terry's voice, as if he didn't believe her.

"You know people such as Jason Blood; you've gone back in time; you've defeated the first Joke; you study under the original Batman, and yet you still believe that your earthly senses can tell all?" She asked him, smiling subtly now.

There was silence for a second, "When you put it that way..."

"You feel like a sullen child who knows nothing." She finished, turning back to the water. "Do not worry, though. You will grow up one day, unfortunate as that may be."

More silence, then, "I would ask you how old you really are, if you aren't a teenager, but I've been told that it's rude to ask a woman her age."

"More subtle than your mentor, I'll give you that." She told him, "I am old enough to remember the first Robin, I'll tell you that much."

Terry's head went spinning, his brain putting together pieces and finding new holes and just plain wondering. She could have said that she was over fifty, or she had been alive when Bruce had been in mid-career as Batman. Instead, she had mentioned Robin. Why?

"I can feel your mind moving, hearing the gears twisting." She felt the urge to laugh, but kept her emotions in check. Years of being an emotionless board had honed that ability. "I have no doubt that you shall figure it out eventually."

"I go from being a young, green Batman to being able to figure out who you are, just from one sentence?" Terry asked, still thinking.

She looked at him for a long second, before, once again, her dark gaze shifted to the water. "You _are _part of the Batclan, and if there is one thing to be said of those Batman helped create, it's that none are stupid."

She knew most of the Batclan, she knew Batman, she'd been alive sixty years ago and hadn't aged (she wasn't human, then), and had known the first Robin, probably very well, since she'd mentioned him specifically. That, or all of this was to thrown him off her original trail, but Terry's instincts were sayings that she wasn't.

"Thanks for the compliment." He told her, standing up and yawning behind his mask. He wouldn't normally be out this late; in fact, he had been going home when he'd stopped to scare her from the park. Then he'd gotten caught up talking to her. "We both need to leave, though."

"I should be leaving soon," She assured him, "I'm meeting someone here at one-thirty, which is..." She glanced at the moon, "Ten minutes ago."

"And you can tell this by the moon?" He asked, then shook his head. "Not the point. He's obviously stood you up; you might as well go home. I can even take you there, if you'd like."

"You couldn't take me home if I let you - unless, of course, you can travel through pocket dimensions." She told him with a smile, though she took his offered hand and stood. "And it is only ten minutes - he's kept me waiting longer."

"At one in the morning in the crime capital of the world?" Terry asked, shaking his head. "Not a very good boyfriend, if you ask me."

"She didn't ask," A voice rumbled from behind them, and Terry spun, falling in a fighting stance.

"And I'm not her boyfriend. Just her friend."

Terry gaped at the man standing in front of him. "You're Nightwing."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow at Terry, "And you're the new Batman. Now that we're done with the name games, can I leave?"

It wasn't really a question. There was no way in hell that Terry could stop freaking Nightwing - the original Robin, former leader of both the Titans and a core member of the Justice League - in a fight, if he wanted to stop the guy from leaving. No freaking way.

Wait. Titans - former Teen Titans. Original Robin, half-demon woman as the magic, purple hair, purple eyes. Old as Nightwing was now. "You're Raven, of the Teen Titans."

Raven stepped out from beside Batman and made her towards Nightwing, embracing him tightly before looking at Batman. "Formerly. The Titans disbanded long ago."

They hadn't disbanded because of hate or because their friendship had fallen apart. They had all just realized it was time to move on. Starfire had gone back to Tamaran, though she visited on every holiday. Robin - Nightwing - had gone to Bludhaven, protecting that city as both a hero and a cop. Cyborg protected Steel City, and Beast Boy stayed in the Titans Tower, hosting parties every holiday that everyone showed up to.

Raven? She'd stayed with Dick - her brother in soul - for a while, but finally returned to Azararth. She returned frequently, but seeing everyone grow old, even Starfire, who wasn't even human...

"We have to go, Raven. I don't like being away too long." Nightwing glanced up, as if he could still see the Nightwing symbol floating in the air, summoning him. He couldn't, not anymore, but still.

"He's a mother hen when it comes to his city," Raven told the new Batman, who just nodded dumbly. Meeting icons of the Golden Age of heros could to that to people, even Batman. "See you around, Terry McGinnis."

Then her soul self pulled from her body, shielding the two birds of the night from prying eyes. When the black shadow of the raven vanished, both were gone.

Terry watched them go with wide eyes. It wasn't every day that you got to meet a rumored-to-be-dead heroine and a hero who shaped the world. Okay, so maybe it was, since Bruce was his boss, but whatever. It was still sway.

A glance in the corner of his visor told him it was around one-forty-five. Not good. His boots shot fire as he lifted himself, heading home as fast as possible. He still had to finish his history essay, after all.


End file.
